Rich Greenfield, co-founder of LightShed Partners, is convinced that TikTok continues to be available in the United States under ByteDance’s ownership.
The Biden administration announced that they would not enforce the TikTok ban that had been set to take effect Sunday. They will leave enforcement up to Donald Trump’s incoming government.
Greenfield told CNBC in an interview on Friday that recent events have shown Trump to “like TikTok” and he will save the app.
What can Trump do to help TikTok survive?
Rich Greenfield believes Donald Trump will invoke Article 2, which says “In foreign or international affairs, the President’s power supersedes Congress.”
He said this morning, on “Squawk box”, that the President-elect would designate TikTok as a “foreign affair” and “put an Executive Order saying this [congressional prohibition] doesn’t apply”.
Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok had already announced his plans to attend Trump’s inauguration.
He will be sitting with President-elect on Monday.
According to LightShed’s Greenfield, this suggests Donald Trump “wants TikTok’s existence. He uses it aggressively.”
TikTok is a threat to national security?
The co-founders of LightShed Partners, speaking with Andrew Ross Sorkin from CNBC on today’s episode, also suggested that TikTok might not pose a threat to national security after all.
His view was based on government filings which suggest that there is no proof of China “manipulating the algorithm” or “spying on US citizens up to this point.”
Donald Trump and the Americans are on the same level, despite their concerns about security.
Over 100 million people in the United States are active monthly on this platform, and that number is expected to reach 120 million users by 2027.
TikTok also generates millions of dollars in revenue from the US every year.
Who would benefit from a TikTok ban?
Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak says that if TikTok is indeed closed in the US, other social media platforms will benefit from it over time.
Pinterest, Snap and Reddit are among the most popular, as well as tech giants such Meta Platforms, Alphabet Inc.
For every 10% share of TikTok US usage that either Facebook or YouTube captures, they could earn up to $750,000,000 in additional revenue.
Morgan Stanley believes that advertising software firms AppLovin, Trade Desk and others will also benefit from the US TikTok ban. The shares of AppLovin have already increased by more than 700% in value since 2024.
Rich Greenfield: Donald Trump “likes TikTok” and wants to save it. This article may change as new information becomes available.
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